Space to breathe.

I find that living in this part of the UK has many benefits but sometimes it is wonderful to take a break and venture further out and into the wilds of our country, so in early August we took a break from our familiar surroundings to have a family holiday and headed North. Stopping at a few places on the way up, we were quickly surprised at the space available to us, both the physical environment and in our own head-space.

Image from  'Of House and Home' exhibition at YSP by Alice Pattullo.

Kent is undoubtedly a busy and in some areas, an overcrowded region of the UK. It is close to the continent and London, which makes it impossible to ignore or be unaware of the bigger picture of the world. This, at the present moment is quite an unsettling one, so it was great to get away.

We left early and watched the sun rise as we travelled up north, stopping regularly to both stretch our legs and find our bearings. One stop at Wakefield took us to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where we and many others walked around the acres of beautiful countryside enjoying the wonderful sculptures, using them as landmarks to navigate the terrain. I had not seen Henry Moore sculptures outside a gallery space before but knew he had made them for this environment, not galleries or other domestic settings and so for me it was a revelation to see them at last in context.

YSP, Henry Moore galore!

James Turrell, an artist that I had researched whilst studying for my MA also had a piece of work in the park. He creates physical spaces that encourage observation of the sky. They are called Skyspaces and the one in Wakefield was one of two that we visited on our trip. Looking at the blurb for YSP it seems they also use it for many special events throughout the year, such as sound-bath meditation and sunrise and sunset observations. I will certainly plan a visit to incorporate this in the not too distant future.

Deer shelter Skyspace.

We all entered the Deershelter Skyspace quietly and once sat on the concrete benches that surround the inside of the chamber, we sat in silence and wonder at the simplicity of it all. Certainly space to breathe, with space to think and watch the clouds slowly scud across the view from the square aperture.

Entering the Kielder Skyspace.

The following week at Kielder Observatory we discovered another of his Skyspaces and entered with a more excited sense of what we thought we would discover. This time the aperture was circular and captured both the glow of the setting sun and the concentration of space directly above us.

Circular view.

Later that evening we saw the (almost) full moon through huge telescopes and were shown planets, stars and their constellations. We drank hot chocolate and wondered what we could see from the Skyspace now. Kielder Observatory is located in Europe’s largest expanse of dark sky, so even when the sun has one down there is plenty to see. So much to see in fact that you go giddy with it all.

Moon photo taken by my mobile phone via a telescope lens.

We ventured to Kelso in Scotland to see an extraordinary set of three art installations by Steve Messam, set in the grounds of Mellerstain House. These were inflatable structures that 'explore their sense of space, presence and place'. Again they acted as points to navigate to, encouraging exploration and discovery. The inflatable spheres on the ornamental lake certainly stayed with me as an image. I think they really summed up our holiday. A series of circular objects that encapsulated what we really needed; space to breathe.

Sculpture by Steve Messam.

I will be opening the doors of my beautiful straw bale studio once again this year to exhibit my own and Alison Lees work as part of the Canterbury Festival, the theme is still 'The Spirit of Place' as it is an ongoing art project based in Kent.

You can keep up to date with our explorations and discoveries by looking at www.facebook.com/EastKentSpiritOfPlace

Open times are 11-5 daily on the weekends from 14-29^th of October. We can be found at house number 25 on the Whitstable trail. Please see the webpage www.ekoh.org.uk for more information.

 I can be contacted on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk